The Christian Vanguard

How many times have I heard the phrase, "The gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger"? If I had a nickle for every time I heard that, the gap would get even larger. It's a misleading phrase, and it is supposed to reinforce the idea that the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. And in one sense, that is true, but that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Allow me to explain.

Science is a tool. Because it is a tool, it is therefore an amoral thing in and of itself, that is to say, there is nothing inherently wrong or right about it. For example, an axe is a tool, and can be considered a helpful tool to chop down wood so a man can provide warmth for his family. An axe can also be used as a weapon by that same man to chop down his whole family, but to say that the axe is bad or good, right or wrong, would be a category mistake. In the same way, science, especially those in the areas of medicine and life and death issues, is also amoral. However, guidelines and restrictions must be placed on the use of science. Some uses of science are clearly prohibited just as the use of an axe to murder a family is clearly prohibited. In a new and emerging area of science, that of Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), popularly known as “Designer Children”, new questions will arise that have not yet been answered in virtue of the fact that it is a new f...

It's been a while since I've posted anything up in a while. So here is an old essay I wrote. Unfortunately, the people of the Republic of California did not see things my way and passed the initiative.  2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” There has been much local talk about the “Living Wage” initiative here in Long Beach. Here are two articles from the Long Beach Post. http://www.lbpost.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2000000157%3A30-000-signatures-to-be-submitted-to-city-hall-today-for-living-wage&catid=85%3Anews&Itemid=650 http://www.lbpost.com/business/2000000168-long-beach-hospitality-workers-one-step-closer-to-living-wage-contentious-campaign-to-come The argument is a classic one. Because the workers cannot make a living off their wages, their wages must increase and if you oppose this, then you are greedy and heartless scum. I do not ...

From the early church up to 1930, virtually every church believed contraception was a sin. That fact alone should have us induce that contraception is in fact a sin. Yet, there are many Christians today, even in my own congregation, that will never entertain the possibility of contraception being a sin.

There have been debates emerging about gun control after each tragic shooting that I have seen on the news. Virginia Tech, Aurora, and now Newtown (I was too young to remember the reaction after Columbine). The debate that has emerged after the Newtown shooting seems to be fiercer since many of the victims were little children, and as responsible Christian citizens, we ought to have some biblical background to the debate, so that we may safely navigate through the issue. So, what does the Bible say about gun control?

I saw “Bowling for Columbine” a long time ago. I bought it at Wal-Mart because it was on sale for like three bucks. I had purchased it during the time in my life where I had already left behind communism, but wasn’t completely a conservative. I was free-market on most of the fiscal policy issues, and only partially in line with the republicans on the social issues (I supported the death penalty, “torturing”, our presence in the middle east [I believed a war with militant Muslims was attractive for an atheist] and was pro-gun [basically all the violent stuff lol!], but was for abortion and same-sex marriage). And so while I thought the documentary was crap, an off the cuff comment, or slogan, about health care had me thinking.

I risk being called a racist for this. My better judgment is telling me not to make this thought public, but my gigantic ego is telling me to not be a fairy and put it up like man. I’m thinking we ought to abolish hate-crime. What is hate-crime? Basically, what happens is, if I, a “Mexican-American” (I prefer just “American”, thank you very much) beat up a gay man, and while doing so, call him derogatory names in reference to his homosexuality, like “queer” or “faggot”, my punishment will be more severe. My targeting of his demographic for a crime makes my punishment more severe. There are difficulties with this.